Rapido's Ownly looks beyond order value in food delivery push
Bengaluru: Rapido's food delivery platform Ownly is betting that cheaper food delivery, not higher commissions, will be the next growth driver for India's online food
Bengaluru: Rapido's food delivery platform Ownly is betting that cheaper food delivery, not higher commissions, will be the next growth driver for India's online food delivery market, with the company prioritizing new customers and restaurant sign-ups over gross order value (GOV). “The key metric we’re chasing in the near term is bringing more customers online and onboarding more restaurants,” Aravind Sanka, Rapido’s co-founder and head of Ownly, told Mint. Affordability should drive higher repeat purchases, ordering frequency and retention, making conventional metrics such as GOV less relevant for a platform that does not charge restaurant commissions, he added. Ownly’s strategy marks a departure from the playbook adopted by incumbents Swiggy and Zomato, which have increasingly focused on improving profitability through higher order values, and subscription programmes. The five-month-old company’s zero-commission model, which it intends to maintain even as the platform scales, is also a key differentiator, according to Sanka. “Our philosophy is to make a small amount of money on every order rather than make a lot of money on a few orders,” Sanka said, arguing that simply extracting more value from each transaction rarely defines long-term economics.
Acknowledging industry concerns that India’s food delivery market is nearing saturation, Sanka said early traction among consumers and restaurants suggests there is room for a differentiated platform. Food delivery still has room to add first-time online customers and restaurants underserved by existing platforms, he added. Sanka also said it would be unfair to compare Ownly’s profitability timeline with market leaders Swiggy and Zomato because they had to build India’s online food delivery market from scratch. “They built the market from scratch. New entrants will naturally move faster,” Sanka quipped. India’s online food delivery sector is expected to reach nearly $27 billion by 2030 from $9.1 billion in 2024, growing at a 19% CAGR, driven less by new user additions and more by higher order frequency and tier-2 penetration, according to a May 2026 report by Investec Equities. On Wednesday, Ownly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Tuesday to promote its zero-commission model, following the platform’s rollout in Bengaluru in March this year. Ownly currently has about 20,000 restaurants.
Shared backbone Sanka said Ownly intends to leverage Rapido’s logistics network and rider base to keep delivery costs low rather than monetize restaurants through commissions. Consumers should pay only for food and the cost of delivery, while restaurants retain menu pricing without platform commissions, he said. That philosophy is also shaping other monetization decisions. Ownly is not currently considering subscription programmes because, unlike larger rivals, it does not have multiple revenue streams to subsidise memberships, according to Sanka. For context, Zomato offers the Gold membership for additional discounts, while Swiggy offers One across its food delivery and grocery delivery services. However, could become a revenue stream, though Sanka said it is unlikely to be significant. While Ownly was integrated into the Rapido app earlier this week, Sanka said the company has no plans to abandon its standalone identity. “Consumers associate Rapido with mobility, while food remains a distinct habit,” he said, explaining that the main app primarily serves as a low-cost customer acquisition channel. Rapido’s daily traffic offers a cheaper way to build awareness than paid marketing, but the standalone Ownly app will remain the company’s long-term strategy.
The BriefWire